Solutions that don’t break the bank, reinvent the wheel or marginalize our teachers are within our grasp. We could have rigorous classes, safe and disciplined schools and treat teachers like valued colleagues rather than easily replaceable cogs, and we could do so tomorrow if we wanted. Disclaimer, this is an opinion and commentary site and should not be confused as a news site. Also know that quite often people may disagree with the opinions posted.

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Thursday, July 16, 2015

And School Board member Scott Shine says I am a bully

So that happened.

Look I can imagine that it is hard for Mr. Shine to read that somebody thinks he ran for school board jut to fill a line on a resume, that he lacks institutional knowledge, that he is doing a poor job and it's time he stopped playing Mike Lee to Jason Fischer's Ted Cruz.

I get it, Shine has probably bopped through life with most people patting him on his back and saying good job. Criticism is something I imagine he has rarely faced.

But the truth is he was the third best candidate in his district, two other people that ran were more qualified and it was either hubris or selfishness that drove Shine's run. Now he won so we have to deal with him but thus far he has been very unimpressive, might he improve? Sure but as of now I don't see any signs of it.

Here is the thing he has trolled my blog and anonymously and said hateful things, now I get snarky but I don't write about things I have no knowledge of, I will never critique Shine's jump shot or the way he cooks spaghetti because I have no idea about those things but he a sitting school bard member felt he could critique my teaching. Who is the bully there?

The truth is I am incapable of bullying the school board or the group of millionaires that pull their strings and when Shine says I am he is distracting from his and the boards failure. Discipline is atrocious, teacher morale is rock bottom, charter schools are taking over the town, through the QEA we have abdicated democracy, and the list goes on and on, What is he ding to fix those things? Me being critical is not me bullying, its me saying how about you doing your job?

If Shine, the super or other school board members, don't like me pointing out the poor decisions they make, the hypocrisy they engage in, the sometimes crazy other times rude things they say or the questionable relationships they form, then they should stop doing those things. That's not me being a bully, that's me doing the job the local media refuses to do.

Finally I would like to say I encouraged the writer to go to Shine and several others so she might get a different perspective. I am not afraid of criticism or alternate points of view, That's not what a bully does, that's what somebody who cares about our schools does.

4 comments:

So I listened to the interview, and Shine's accusation of bullying is absurd. Being critical of an institution is NOT bullying. Chris, I would write what you do, for the most part, but I fear reprisal, not necessarily from my principal(s) but from downtown. I read almost every day and encourage others to do the same because you are right; the media refuse to be critical. I read the Times Union, but I get so frustrated that after my free articles, I stop because I don't want to pay an institution for awful reporting that refuses to ask any other sources than those in the district. Please, keep doing what you are doing. I may, at times, get frustrated with your blog, because as an English teacher, the grammar of your writing, hurts me, but I talked with one of your friends and now know why. You should be a reporter or on the school board because you actually know what you're talking about.

I am on the other side of the political fence from Chris. But as a retired teacher of 37 years service in DCPS let me be the first to stand up and applaud Chris, his blog and the truth. Mr.Shine you know not of what you speak. Instead of opening your mouth and proving you're a fool you should keep it closed so that the good people of Jacksonville may only suppose it.